7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Drama involving a general's concern for his men's morale while heading up the operations of a bombing squadron from a base in Chelveston, England, during the early part of WWII.
Starring: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell, Dean Jagger (I)War | 100% |
Drama | 9% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
French: Dolby Digital Mono
English: Dolby Digital Mono (Original)
English, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The United States may have been unprepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and it may in fact have taken quite a while for the American military to mount an effective counterattack in both the European and Pacific theaters, but the film industry was surprisingly facile in its response to the new reality of World War II. Several famous filmmakers, among them George Stevens, William Wyler and Frank Capra, all took personal risks in forging some of the War’s most important documentary features (some of which, at least, play much more akin to propaganda to modern sensibilities). But even Hollywood itself was able to rather quickly capitalize on the conflict to churn out an amazing array of features which were unabashed attempts to keep morale high, especially in the dark opening days of the War, when Allied victories were few and far between. If a lot of the product put out during the War is easily dismissed as more or less cartoonish efforts which were black and white (figuratively and literally) depictions of good guys (that would be us) versus bad guys (that would be the Germans and the Japanese), a rather surprisingly nuanced and mature approach to the emotional devastation the War visited on vets was explored in Wyler’s own epochal 1946 feature, The Best Years of Our Lives. Though unashamedly crafted to tug at the heartstrings, this film had a really amazingly nuanced emotional heft to it that quite admirably explored the issues, both physical and psychological, that returning vets were facing. It took a few more years for there to be an analogously incisive look at actual wartime trauma, but that’s exactly what the strangely underappreciated and at times largely forgotten Twelve O’Clock High offers. This sterling 1949 production might be thought of as The Worst Years of Our Lives, as the film explores all sorts of issues that confronted both enlisted “grunts” and, perhaps even more impressively, their Commanding Officers, as the early days of World War II greeted the American forces with day after day of devastating losses and only a faint glimmer of hope far off in the distance.
Don't get too concerned about the nuts and bolts of the criticisms included in this part of the review, because the bottom line is Twelve O'Clock High looks generally excellent in its new Blu-ray version. It appears that the same master that was used for the Cinema Classics Collection 2 DVD edition of Twelve O'Clock High has been utilized for this new AVC encoded 1080p transfer (in 1.33:1). There are some issues with the source elements that cannot be avoided, and anyone expecting a pristine version of this film is bound to be troubled by some of these issues. So let's get the bad stuff out of the way before concentrating on the good. There is persistent flicker evident throughout the film, as well as intermittent print through at times. A number of scratches and other mars crop up from time to time. At least one sequence (the first meeting between Jagger and Peck) suffers from image degradation that runs down the left side of the frame. Blacks are inconsistent and actually get into milky territory more than once. The good news is, there's a considerable improvement in clarity and sharpness, and despite the inconsistent blacks, overall black levels are much richer in this new Blu-ray presentation than on the SD-DVD. While contrast is similarly iffy at times, the bulk of the film sports excellent differentiation in gray scale, and Leon Shamroy's cinematography looks decidedly clearer than it has in previous home video presentations.
Fox has done a superb job in providing a repurposed lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track for Twelve O'Clock High, and is to be commended for taking the time and effort to do this. That's the good news. The somewhat less good news is that Twelve O'Clock High isn't a traditional action picture, so bombastic battle sequences never fill the surrounds with explosions and penetrating gunfire. This is much more of a quiet, dialogue driven film centering on the mental states of several characters. As such, immersion is mostly limited to discrete ambient environmental effects, and though perhaps more subtle than the overwhelming sounds of battle might have been, these are placed quite artfully throughout the soundfield as the film progresses. The film in notable for having next to no underscore, but Alfred Newman's beautiful themes, heard only in the opening and closing sequences of the film, sound magnificent. There is some light hiss audible at various times throughout the film, but overall the soundtrack has weathered the ravages of time surprisingly well.
All of the extras from the two DVD Cinema Classics Collection Edition, save for the Still Gallery and Interactive Pressbook, have been ported over to this new Blu-ray:
If you come to Twelve O'Clock High expecting a John Wayne shoot-'em-up, you'll be confused, to say the very least. This is not an "action" film in the traditional sense, and in some ways, it's not even a typical war picture. This is sterling psychological drama which just happens to be taking place during the opening months of the United States' involvement in World War II. Highlighted by an unusual performance by Gregory Peck, and featuring Oscar winning support from Dean Jagger (as well as an incredible ensemble), Twelve O' Clock High is thought provoking and emotionally devastating. Highly recommended.
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